The re-election of the Coalition Government

“We congratulate Prime Minister Turnbull and the Coalition on their re-election”, said Ken Morrison, Chief Executive of the Property Council of Australia.

“While the election result was close, the government should not take the wrong lessons from the outcome.

“The result is not a ‘three-year leave pass’ from economic reform. We should not think that the 25 years of economic growth that Australia concluded was achieved by ignoring the economic fundamentals. The decision of S&P to put Australia on negative credit watch is a reminder that Australia is responsible for our own economic future.

“It has been the property and construction sector that has largely filled the hole left by the end of the mining investment boom. However, the Government must understand that a number of leading indicators are softening in this sector.

“The need to re-establish the Australian Building and Construction Commission is very real and we urge the government to find a legislative pathway to deliver this important reform.

“The Prime Minister rightly made cities policy a critical part of his economic agenda. On cities and infrastructure there is now considerable bi-partisan agreement and this is an opportunity to cement long-term results in an area so vital to Australia’s prosperity.”

Mr Morrison said the election could not be seen as an endorsement for plans to radically overhaul negative gearing or to impose additional taxes on investment.

“A vital issue for this parliament is housing affordability. It is a real issue across our major cities and a major concern to the community.

“In this election we had a tax debate masquerading as a housing affordability debate. The reality is neither side made a substantive effort to address this issue.

“There has been no shortage of policy reviews on this issue and the need for supply side solutions is clear. The Government must move in this space and it can start by reestablishing the National Housing Supply Council and by developing competition style payments to address supply blockages.

Mr Morrison said he was hopeful that the industry could work with both sides of politics in developing a comprehensive agenda to tackle housing affordability.

“We have a major housing affordability problem in our cities and we must tackle the policy impediments that have contributed to this crisis. We extend our hand to the Government, Opposition and the crossbenches to work with them on developing a substantive agenda to deal with this issue.”